People Use Streaming Devices More Than Smart TVs, New Research

New data shows people aren't using their smart TVs as much as their streaming media devices

Image/Photo Credit: Amazon

New data released by research firm Parks Associates show that people are more likely to use their streaming media devices than their smart TVs.

This is true despite ownership of smart TVs outnumbering that of streaming devices. Data from Parks show that among households with broadband services, 50% own smart TVs, while 40% own streaming devices. Half of all those that own smart TVs also own a streaming media device.

The same data show that 70% of those that own streaming devices use the device at least once per week, compared to only 59% of smart TV owners who use their TV's smart functions.

In terms of streaming media device ownership, Roku still leads all other devices by popularity. It was followed by Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. Amazon's share has grown in the last year at the expense of Google's, whose ownership share dropped by 4%.

Parks also looked at usability of these streaming media devices and found that users found different things to like about each device.

"In terms of usability, consumers score Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon's Fire TV highly. When ranking these devices, Roku leads in multiple usability categories, while the Apple TV leads in terms of gaming and the ability to purchase content. Amazon’s Fire TV has moved up to second place in the ease-of-setup category and is close to the Apple TV’s score in several more, including ease of finding something to watch and ease of purchasing content, which could account in part for its growing market share," said Kristen Hanich, Research Analyst, Parks Associates.

Parks's research also looked at the ownership of 4K TVs, and between 2015 to 2017, 4K TV purchases went up from 14% to 30% among the surveyed households.